Sale-based 24-7 Electrical Group has announced a £1 million increase in turnover this year to £7 million.
Darnhall Limited, trading as 24-7 Group offers a range of electrical design and installation services for warehousing and cold storage facilities, production facilities, commercial developments, high rise residential, and retail customers including Tesco.
The business was set up in 2010 by directors Andrew Hawes and Jason Lawler, with commercial director John Matthews joining the company in 2012.
24-7 Group has funded its expansion over the past few years with two loans from Northern England based finance providers, FW Capital.
FW Capital provided an initial loan of £250,000 in 2012 which was subsequently fully repaid. 24-7 Group returned to FW Capital last year, following the launch of NPIF – FW Capital Debt Finance which is part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, for a further loan of £500,000 to help deliver its five year growth plan.
Director John Matthews said: “We would not be where we are today without the funding from FW Capital and the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.
“We needed to make a long-term commitment to invest in resources, so it was very important for us to find a long-term investor. Other types of lender do not tend to
provide the certainty of funding that we required, as they can pull their facilities at any time. In an industry like ours where there are peaks and troughs, it’s crucial that we have an investment partner that really understands our business strategy.
“The first loan helped us to build our client base and take on more contracts and people which has seen us grow from a £1 million turnover business to £6 million last year.
“We needed £500,000 to fund our five year growth plan but wanted a loan not equity finance to retain full control of the business.
“This has been used to recruit 11 new staff and broaden our offering to include mechanical, heating, air conditioning and plumbing services.
“Our plan is to reach a turnover of £9 million next year, £15 million during the next three years, and £25 million in five years.
“This ambitious growth strategy would not be achievable without the funding from FW Capital and NPIF and we’re really pleased to have them on board as our investment partners.
FW Capital portfolio manager Melanie Taylor said: “Darnhall is run by a very capable management team and the business went from strength to strength following our initial investment. We were delighted to provide the company with a second NPIF loan and we are looking forward to continuing to work closely with them.
“This is a good example of how we can help a company through various growth stages and we’d like to encourage any businesses that have received an investment from us whether ongoing or repaid to speak to us again if they would like more funding.”
Sue Barnard, Senior Relationship Manager at British Business Bank, said: “With specialist electrical products and services on offer to a diverse client base, the £500,000 funding provided by NPIF will allow the company to look forward and deliver on its ambitious growth plans. We’re looking forward to seeing the positive impact it has over the coming years as a result of this round of funding.”
The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.
